Four Factors to NCAA Tournament Success

As every
basketball junkie knows, KenPom.com is a
treasure trove of college basketball
information. I pored through the data to find four key factors that propelled
recent Final Four teams to success, and teams that excel at those factors this
year:

Interior Defense

Lst
year's winner, UCONN, was very strong on defense, particularly in the paint.
UCONN was 7th in the country in opponents 2-point fg%. This year, the following
teams excel at interior defense:

#1
Kentucky

#2 Kansas

#3 UCONN

#4
Louisville

#5
Wisconsin

#8
Memphis

#12
Florida St

#13
Michigan St

These 8
teams are extremely hard to score against on the inside. With Anthony Davis and
Thomas Robinson manning the paint, Kentucky and Kansas in particular will be
tough to score against. Teams that play good interior defense have what it takes
to go all the way, as they'll only lose when opponents have fluke success on the
outside.

Non-Conference Strength of Schedule

Last
year's runner up Butler played an extremely tough schedule, the 7th hardest in
the country. Overall records can be skewed by soft schedules and an inordinate
amount of home games. The following teams are well prepped after playing brutal
schedules:

#2
Mississippi Valley St

#3 Long
Beach St

#14 Duke

#18 UNC
Asheville

#20
Temple

#25
Memphis

Long
Beach St, a 12 seed, played an extremely challenging schedule and came close to
knocking off top 10 teams. They know what its like to play on the road and could
be a team to watch.

Offensive Rebounding

In 2010,
Duke went on to win it all thanks to an extremely efficient offense, #1 in the
country. Duke wasn't even an amazing shooting team that year, but they were
efficient because they limited turnovers and attacked the offensive glass. Here
are some teams that will consistently get extra points off the boards this year:

#4 New
Mexico St

#7 West
Virginia

#8 Kansas
St

#9 North
Carolina

#14
Loyola (MD)

#16 Texas

#18
Kentucky

Led by
Wendell McKines, New Mexico St is tough in the paint, which makes them dangerous
against 4-seed Indiana. The only two teams on this list that combine
offensive rebounding prowess with an ability to take care of the ball are North
Carolina and Kentucky. They have to be considered serious National Champion
contenders.

Defensive Pressure

VCU made
a surprise run to the Final Four last year as an 11 seed. They were not
particularly amazing at offense, but they did play great defense that forced a
ton of turnovers. Here are teams that force the highest % of steals:

#1 VCU

#3
Syracuse

#4 Ohio

#6
Louisville

#14
Cincinnati

#15
Marquette

#16
Mississippi Valley St

#18
Missouri

VCU is
even better at forcing steals this year than they were last year. Ohio is
another low seed (a 13) that plays pressure defense. They could cause all kinds
of trouble for opponent Michigan. You'll notice a lot of Big East teams on this
list, perhaps why many of the league's games were low scoring this year.

SPONSORS

About Shawn Siegel

ColumnistShawn Siegel - Head Editor

Contactshawn@collegehoops.net

Background

Shawn Siegel created CollegeHoops.net (formerly collegehoopsnet.com) back in the summer of 2002, and it has since grown into the web's largest independent college basketball site, visited by over 1,000,000 visitors per year. Shawn is responsible for the CHN Top 50,Bracketology projections (he is ranked the #1 Bracketologist over the last 4 years), as well the NBA Mock Draft.

Shawn's college basketball and NBA Draft commentary has been quoted in dozens of national newspapers, and he's been a featured guest on numerous radio programs.

After graduating from Washington University and Washington University Law School before, Shawn passed the New Jersey Bar exam but no longer practices Law. For more on his background, visit hisLinkedIn profile.

Please email him at shawn@collegehoops.net with all media requests, advertising inquiries, and partnership opportunities.